“What?”
“Gregory Harrington and Chloe Whitaker switched the babies at birth,” she whispered. “They took Isabella’s baby and gave it to Chloe.”
My chest clenched. A cold sweat ran down my spine as I stumbled back. My daughter.
The one they said died.
Still Alive?
“But m…Isabella’s baby didn't make it,” I whispered.
Rebecca shook her head.
“That was Chloe’s baby. She was born not breathing. Gregory bribed the hospital to switch them. Then, they told Isabella her baby died.”
I felt sick.
She continued, voice cracking.
I was supposed to get rid of Chloe’s baby… but she cried. I hid her, terrified of what they’d do.”
My legs nearly buckled. I grabbed the edge of the bench to steady myself, gasping for air.
“So the baby Gregory and Chloe were proudly showing everywhere… was mine.And the child in this stroller, the one they threw away, was Chloe’s real child.”
“I didn’t know how to reach Isabella,” Rebecca whispered. “Then I saw the news saying she retired and handed everything to her husband. I knew something was wrong.”
If only she knew Isabella Harrington was standing right in front of her. And that “retirement” was the lie Gregory fed the public after trying to kill me.
After giving my beloved one to his mistress.
After announcing to the world that I stepped down because we lost “our baby.”
She looked at me, eyes filled with guilt.
“Will you take this child, even though... you have no blood relation to this poor little one?”
My throat tightened.
Raising my husband's mistress's child? I must be out of my mind to even consider it.
Tears blurred my vision, but I blinked them away.
I looked down at the little girl—tiny, quiet, unwanted—and yet my chest only felt... warmed.
“Yes… I’ll take her. I think Isabella would need her.”
She visibly relaxed.
“And her real child?”
The question echoed inside me.
“I’ll take care of this baby. And Isabella will definitely get her child back,” I replied, my voice steady with determination.
Relief burst out of her in a shaky exhale. She thanked me over and over.
We said our final goodbyes, and I watched her walk away until her figure faded into the distance.
My hands trembled as I reached for the baby.
I lifted her gently, her cheek brushing my shoulder.
A slow, dangerous smile pulled at my lips.
“We’ll make them pay together,” I whispered.
Then my voice dropped to a cold, deadly calm.
“They stole my child…”
I paused, my expression so complicated even I could hardly decipher it myself.
“…so let me raise theirs.”
The night breeze skimmed my new face, a face Gregory and Chloe would never recognize.
“They think Isabella Harrington is dead.”
I smiled down at the sleeping baby in my arms.
“Good.”
“Because the woman coming for them would be someone they’ll never see coming.”
“I’ll make sure the gift I prepare for our next meeting will be burned into their memory.”
****
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
“Will you get the damn door or do I have to do everything around here?” Chloe’s shrill voice sliced through the house.
The door swung open.
An exhausted maid, apron covered in baby spit-up, stared at me and the infant strapped to my chest.
“How may I help you?”
“I’m here for the nanny job I saw online.”
“Name?”
“Evelyn Cole.”
I handed over the forged résumé.
She vanished down the hall.
Heels clicked sharply against the floor.
Chloe appeared, my real daughter on her hip in a $2,000 onesie.
She froze.
Same dark curls on both babies. Same eyes.
“You brought your own kid to an interview?” she snapped.
“She sleeps through anything,” I said softly, eyes cast down.
Chloe rolled her eyes impatiently. “We’ll see. The last four nannies lasted less than a week. My princess is… particular.”
She stepped aside. “Come in. Don’t touch anything expensive.”
I walked into the home my money bought. Floor-to-ceiling glass. City skyline. Not a trace of the old mansion left.
Gregory lounged on a white leather sofa, feet on marble, scrolling through his phone. “Is this the new one?”
“Yes, darling,” Chloe cooed. “Evelyn something. Comes with baggage though.” Gregory glanced up.
His gaze slid over my new features.
My heartbeat skipped once, sharp, but I kept my posture calm. “She looks competent,” he said, bored. “Start tonight?”
“Tonight is perfect.”
Chloe dumped my real daughter into my arms.
“Then prove it. Change her. Feed her. And keep that one quiet.” She tipped her chin toward the baby on my chest, her real daughter.
The second my real daughter touched me, she stopped crying.
She looked up with Gregory’s grey eyes and smiled like she knew.
Her tiny fingers brushed my chin, and I forced my breathing steady. My heart split wide open.
I carried her to the nursery with Chloe hovering close behind. “Faster,” she barked. “She hates cold hands.”
I changed the diaper with the same hands that grew her inside me, each touch its own quiet torture.
When I finished, Chloe snatched her back.
“She likes you,” she said, her voice edged with suspicion. “She never likes anyone.”
Gregory appeared, whiskey in hand.
“Sign the contract. Triple Salary. We’re at our wits’ end.”
Two minutes later, back in the living room, I put pen to paper and signed Evelyn Cole in smooth, perfect cursive.
Chloe smirked. “One rule: don’t get attached to my daughter. She’s mine. Clear?” “Crystal,” I said.
Gregory tossed me a keycard. “Your room’s beside the nursery.” I nodded.
Chloe stepped closer.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied my face.
I kept my expression soft and blank, the way a quiet nanny should. I didn’t blink.
“There’s something about you…” she trailed off…..” taking a step closer to me. My pulse exploded, but I didn’t move.
Gregory groaned. “You saw her with the baby, she’s perfect. Come sit. I need sleep.” Chloe kept staring.
Then she dumped my daughter back into my arms and waved a manicured hand. “Get out of my sight. Put her to bed.”
I turned as Chloe sank beside Gregory, hand sliding up his shirt, lips on his neck.
I reached the staircase.
Chloe’s voice floated after me, lazy, dripping with cruelty.
“Gregory… does she look familiar to you?”
He laughed. “‘What? No. She’s just hired help.”
I turned toward the stairs, holding both babies close.
Chloe’s voice came again.
“Wait. Evelyn.”
I froze.
Heat crawled up my neck and I tightened my grip on the baby for a second before forcing myself not to move.
She tilted her head.
“Take off the scarf.”